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3 have terrible service!

Definitely. Had to phone them today and they didn't have a bloody clue.

The issue being that it doesn't seem to be possible to use Orange for data roaming any more. Someone on another forum is claiming that they announced yesterday that they're dropping 2G data for ALL customers, but damned if I can find any evidence or get it out of the person. Do the 3 call centre know? Do they buggery... "it's never been possible to use the internet on 2G" they claim. Clowns.
 
It's certainly the case that there's no fallback on the iPad data service. If you're out of 3G coverage, there's no EDGE or GPRS instead. Having said that, I've travelled up and down the UK and found Three's coverage to be pretty much ubiquitous. Even on a lengthy Edinburgh to London train journey I've never been out of 3G coverage for more than a minute. No excuses for their offshore call centre though. Their customer service is hopeless.
 
It's *almost* excusable on the iPad. A real pain on the iPhone. Once you get to the places they've ignored (anywhere in the countryside other than motorways and major roads) you're screwed.

The thing is, they seem to actually kill the 2G data for the entire account, so even if you move the SIM to another phone, it's gone. But indeed it sounds like they're cancelling the support on all phones anyway. Time will tell. All I know is that currently, asking them about it is like trying to discuss quantum mechanics with a 2 year old.

Problem two: Ordered a MicroSIM to replace the SIM that I'm on now.
"Okay once I put the request through your existing SIM will be disconnected"
"!! What, straight away?"
"No, once you receive the MicroSIM, phone the number on the back and it'll be disconnected and the MicroSIM will be connected it will take about 3 days"
"Oh, ok. So it won't disconnect me until I receive the MicroSIM and phone up, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"Okay, go ahead and send it to me then"
"Sure. I'm putting the request through now, so your existing SIM will be disconnected."
(Thinking we'd been through this) "Erm... right obviously not straight away. OK. Go for it!"
"Sure. Okay it'll be with you in a few days"
"Thanks, bye now"
"Bye"

About 12 hours later, and I'm disconnected, leaving me high and dry for the weekend at the very least. SIGH. Clowns.

I've been defending them a fair bit recently since it seemed they'd improved from the other recent dealings I've had with them but I guess it was a fluke. Or perhaps they were putting all their best people at the helpdesks until Apple had done scrutinising them.
 
Three

I had a struggle activating my iPad with 3 as well - call centre chappy was polite enough, but I had to repeat everything multiple times, and I gave up trying to correct him calling me "Mr Shell" (rather than Mr Bryson). Despite being an existing customer, painfully had to provide address, bank details etc.

Anyway, it took 48 hours to active on my iPad and it's working great now. Superb coverage here in Edinburgh compared to O2s somewhat spotty 3G coverage on my iPhone4.

3's current data deal is easily the best though: £15 a month/10Gb, with the first month FREE as I'm an existing customer.

If only they'd invest a bit more in their customer service...
 
shellbryson said:
Superb coverage here ... 3's current data deal is easily the best though ... If only they'd invest a bit more in their customer service.
Click to expand...

And if they're not prepared to do that, they should invest in Apple's proprietary system for on-iPad data plan activation and management. In the long-run that would cost them less than that godawful Indian call-centre. I wonder how many people, initially attracted by Three's coverage and tariff, simply give up trying to sign-up as a result of the latter?
 
Just to update on "problem 2", in the end it wasn't a problem as the MicroSIM arrived on Saturday morning. Had he only said it'd be same-day dispatch and not "3 to 7 days" I wouldn't have become angry in the first place!

Now just back to problem 1 (internet access on 2G), and waiting for them to be informed. This is the thing I hate about overseas callcentres. Nothing to do with who they are (human beings like the rest of us and know infinitely more English than I know Indian!). Just that they are completely out of touch with what's happening in the company and network and scripted rather than trained on the subject.

They will probably know the score eventually when corporate upload the new scripts/search terms for them. Until then it will be an exercise in frustration as they pick up on keywords that you use in explaining things and go off on tangents based on their search results.
 
AppleCallum said:
Just bought my 32GB 3G iPad from PC World and trying to activate the 3G package with 3 right now!

The agent has a poor grasp of English, cannot understand me and doesn't know what the iPad plan is! Great 3!
Click to expand...

Just wait until the welcome letter arrives in the post - I spent 30 minutes trying to spell out my details over the phone and still they got it wrong. The Internet service is good though compared to O2 & Vodafone there is no image optimisation and speeds are not throttled. However when I phoned to cancel the service I was told "trust me" by a rep who declared there will be no confirmation of the cancellation. Needless to say the service is still up & running weeks later so obviously these people can not be trusted.
 
And if they're not prepared to do that, they should invest in Apple's proprietary system for on-iPad data plan activation and management. In the long-run that would cost them less than that godawful Indian call-centre. I wonder how many people, initially attracted by Three's coverage and tariff, simply give up trying to sign-up as a result of the latter?
Click to expand...

Not gonna happen, according to the Three blog:
http://blog.three.co.uk/2010/05/25/data-plans-for-ipad-from-three/#comments

Brush up on your Hindi if you want to do business with Three, that's effectively what they're telling us.
 
good read guys. i was thinking about skipping iphone 4 and getting an ipad with 3 data instead and an htc desire on 3 too.

not quite sure what to do now. i rang them and coverage was pretty good according to the very helpful girl on the phone. never seen 3g on any other network at my house.
 
biffarino said:
good read guys. i was thinking about skipping iphone 4 and getting an ipad with 3 data instead and an htc desire on 3 too.

not quite sure what to do now. i rang them and coverage was pretty good according to the very helpful girl on the phone. never seen 3g on any other network at my house.
Click to expand...

If you get in on PAYG Three there is no problem. No interaction with the call centres, just plug in and go. Once you get involved with call centres etc. you might as well give up.

My iPad is on PAYG and the service is great. But I have just got an iPhone 4. Three sent me a PAYG microsim chip and it just worked. However I thought I might give this £15 a month rolling 1 month contract a go. So I filled in the order for it on the website a few days ago and today the package turned up. Opened it up. The invoice clearly says micro sim but it's clearly not a microsim! After two hours going in circles on the phone being passed from one department to another I totally give up. I will just stay with PAYG. One chap in a scottish call centre said I can't have ordered one as they dont produce microsims yet. I said I am talking on an iPhone 4 with a PAYG micro sim I got from you on Monday. Impossible sir, he said. It was that point I gave up.

So it's not just the foreign call centres. The whole lot of them haven't a clue.
 
Bob,

Daft question time - the SIM you have, does it have the micro-SIM within it ?

I bought a 3 micro-SIM from PC World and I had to snap it out of a full-sized SIM.
 
l0gan5 said:
Bob,

Daft question time - the SIM you have, does it have the micro-SIM within it ?

I bought a 3 micro-SIM from PC World and I had to snap it out of a full-sized SIM.
Click to expand...

No Microsim in it, a plain ordinary sim. Just had another bout on the phone with them. They have no record of the order now. You say PC World do a Three Microsim? Is it contract or PAYG?

They did send me a PAYG SIM last week and that was how you describe it. A micro sim within a sim. I can't understand why they don't just transfer me to this 1 month rolling contract with the PAYG sim I have. It's only a few keystrokes on their computer I am sure.
 
Boblister said:
No Microsim in it, a plain ordinary sim. Just had another bout on the phone with them. They have no record of the order now. You say PC World do a Three Microsim? Is it contract or PAYG?

They did send me a PAYG SIM last week and that was how you describe it. A micro sim within a sim. I can't understand why they don't just transfer me to this 1 month rolling contract with the PAYG sim I have. It's only a few keystrokes on their computer I am sure.
Click to expand...

The one I have is the 30-day rolling 'contract' i.e. 10GB for £15. I bought it at the same time as the iPad, I think it was about 10-20 pence.
 
3 Coverage

I have an iPhone on O2 and have had for 3 years with no trouble. Customer service is excellent. My broadband is provided by Bt and that gives me access to BT Openzone & BT Fon (Wifi access). We have a holiday home in Flamborough (East Coast) and the only mobile broadband i can find that works is 3. I use this on Mifi so i can connect my laptop. It works fine although it is a little dodgy when there is sea fret/fog. I set it up pretty easy so no need to use 3 customer service but i have had a 3 phone a few years ago and they are crap. They are calling me at the moment offering me all sorts of mobile deals that they say are better than the iPhone. I just tell them i prefer iPhone and thats that.
 
l0gan5 said:
The one I have is the 30-day rolling 'contract' i.e. 10GB for £15. I bought it at the same time as the iPad, I think it was about 10-20 pence.
Click to expand...

Ahh right. For the iPad I got a 3 month Three sim from eBay and chopped it to size. But I was hoping for a 1 month rolling contract one for the iPhone. It's 300 mins and 1GB internet for 15 a month rolling. If they ever get their act together.
 
scottjames1uk said:
I have an iPhone on O2 and have had for 3 years with no trouble. Customer service is excellent. My broadband is provided by Bt and that gives me access to BT Openzone & BT Fon (Wifi access). We have a holiday home in Flamborough (East Coast) and the only mobile broadband i can find that works is 3. I use this on Mifi so i can connect my laptop. It works fine although it is a little dodgy when there is sea fret/fog. I set it up pretty easy so no need to use 3 customer service but i have had a 3 phone a few years ago and they are crap. They are calling me at the moment offering me all sorts of mobile deals that they say are better than the iPhone. I just tell them i prefer iPhone and thats that.
Click to expand...

Yet they are pushing the iPhone to hell at the moment. Bit daft really when they don't have any to sell and most of the customer services are clueless about it all. I have had O2 for three years and I had a sniff of 3G with them once when I was in Manchester. Otherwise I have been stuck with a very poor EDGE signal. And Vodafone seem to be dragging their knuckles on the ground around here with GPRS only.
 
Boblister said:
Ahh right. For the iPad I got a 3 month Three sim from eBay and chopped it to size. But I was hoping for a 1 month rolling contract one for the iPhone. It's 300 mins and 1GB internet for 15 a month rolling. If they ever get their act together.
Click to expand...

Sorry Bob, I should've read your post more thoroughly - thought you were talking about SIM's for the iPad there!
 
Ipad 3G/Wifi

What would be really good is if O2 did a deal where if you were an iphone customer they would let you have internet access on ipad either free or at a reduced rate.
 
Primus84 said:
The problem with Three is that it's all or nothing, 3G or no connection at all, at least with O2, or Orange, or Voda it gracefully drops down to Edge and then GPRS if 3G isn't available. Which is very handy and maintains push notifications etc.
Click to expand...

Comments from Three on their blog suggest that fallback 2G roaming on to Orange is being (re)enabled for iPhone 4 punters later today. No mention yet as to whether or not this will also apply to those with iPad data accounts.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can confirm there's no 2G (EGDE/GPRS) fallback on any Three data tariffs, apparently, nor likely to be. Three's position is "we don’t allow 2G data roaming on any of our Mobile Broadband products including iPad because of the poor experience this would give you". How NO coverage is a better "experience" than SOME coverage isn't made clear. 😕

Anyway, their chaotic customer service shows no sign of improvement either. See the epic post from "Ian" here. 🙄

As I've said before, this is such a pity, both for Three and their punters, because the Three offer in terms of network coverage/quality and price is otherwise a great one. :apple:
 
Save yourself the hassle of 3

Well after realising how painfully slow the 3 network is in Central London I called up to cancel my contract. 4 times I was put through to another department until I ended up speaking to someone in the UK whose job title is presumably 'Professional Patroniser / Time Waster'. I told him I wanted to cancel my contract, he asked why, I explained my problems. Fair enough I thought - this should be over quickly.

Then the conversation went along these lines:

3: How do you know other networks will be any faster?
Me: Because I have an Orange micro-SIM and on average it's 15x faster than the 3 micro-SIM in the place I want to use it
3: Oh right...but that's weird because we've spent more money than Orange on our mobile network
Me: And?
3: So it must be better coverage
Me: It doesn't really work like that I'm afraid
3: I can't believe you're using Orange. Did you see recently they were fined by OFCOM for false advertising for claiming they had a better network than us?
Me: I don't care.
3: Well you should care - why would you want to use someone with an inferior network and false advertising?
Me: Because the 3 network is rubbish in Central London and the Orange network isn't

He then changed tack

3: So do you have anyone else you would want to give the SIM to and they can keep the contract?
Me: errr.....no!
3: No friends...no family?
Me: no.
3: What....you don't have any friends or family?
Me: Let's not get offensive. Can we just get on with the disconnection please?
3: I see you are paying £15 a month - I can cut that by a LOT if it helps
Me: No. I wouldn't pay you £1 a month for the service I'm getting. I just want to cancel my contract.

From bordering on the offensive, he then changed tack again

3: So about this Orange fine
Me: I am not interested - can you please just cancel my contract?
3: I never said I wouldn't cancel your contract!
Me (exasperated): I don't care. I am very busy and you are wasting my time - can you please just cancel my contract?

Here comes his piece de resistance:

3: Well actually I am ALSO very busy so I wish you would stop wasting MY time!

To say I was 😱 is a massive understatement. Basically 3 are a bunch of cowboys as far as I am concerned and I will NEVER use them again for any reason.
 
Just to balance things out here, I've been on 3's iPad plan for a month now and I've had no trouble with it at all. Took a while to get set up (most of that was the credit check) but once it's all up and running I've had 3G pretty much everywhere and it's been fast. No issues here.
 
Seamaster said:
I can confirm there's no 2G (EGDE/GPRS) fallback on any Three data tariffs, apparently, nor likely to be. Three's position is "we don’t allow 2G data roaming on any of our Mobile Broadband products including iPad because of the poor experience this would give you". How NO coverage is a better "experience" than SOME coverage isn't made clear. 😕

Anyway, their chaotic customer service shows no sign of improvement either. See the epic post from "Ian" here. 🙄

As I've said before, this is such a pity, both for Three and their punters, because the Three offer in terms of network coverage/quality and price is otherwise a great one. :apple:
Click to expand...

True for the mobile broadband packages i.e. the Mifis and dongles. Their reason probably being that they're typically very high usage and they can't afford the roaming charges with Orange.

However it's working on the iPhone4 again (assuming you have a normal account with voice and text), I know as I pretty much led the campaign to get it restored 🙂
Not sure about the iPad. I guess they're counting that as a mobile broadband device.
 
Three users may have noticed an update to iPad carrier settings alert in iTunes today.

Doesn't seem to have done much other than populate the previously empty APN field in APN Settings with "3internet".

Haven't had a chance to field test it yet.
 
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